By the time Emma's submarine broke the surface of the ocean, The Armada's ships were in the area. The Overdrive Rangers were already locked in a deadly battle with them, the ship's cannon tearing through the attack ships.
Troy saw Lafitte's ship taking advantage of the confusion, racing away from The Armada ships.
"Try and keep tabs on him!" Troy called to Gia. "Emma, give the Galleon a hand."
"Our scanners are trying, but they can't lock onto his ship." Gia informed him. "Something about his ship is blocking our signal. Once he's out of view...he's gone!"
Troy had to think for a moment to size up his options. Although they had lucked out and managed to get the Overdrive Keys from him, the fact was that they knew he had more Ranger Keys with him. He had at least five more keys, keys that Troy knew they would need. He cast a gaze to where Will and the others were piloting the Galleon, fighting off the small fleet. It was obvious that they were targeting the Galleon in preference to Lafitte. He could only presume that because of their earlier run-ins, The Armada was focused on them, and possibly didn't even know about another enemy. He just looked to Emma.
"Emma, keep them off the Galleon." Troy instructed her. "Noah, take your jet and give them a hand. Jake, Gia, you come with me onto the Galleon."
As they made their way out of the sub, climbing on top of it, they morphed, firing with their pistols as they grabbed the grappling lines, being whisked onto the Galleon. As they arrived on the deck, Troy allowed himself one last glance, seeing Lafitte's ship disappearing in the distance. It frustrated him that they couldn't pursue.
"There'll be other treasure hunts!" Jake assured him. "We'll get other chances to get his keys."
Troy just nodded in agreement as Noah leapt into his jet to assist the Galleon. He followed Gia and Jake below deck, finding Will, Rose, Ronny and Dax doing their best to bring the guns to bear on targets.
"We're glad to see you." Dax told them. "This is so different from our Zords! We tried..."
"You did a good job." Jake told him as he took over Dax's station. "It takes some getting used to."
By the time Troy and Gia took their positions, the tide of the battle was already turning. Emma and Noah had already managed to cut the fleet almost in half.
"The last ships are turning." Gia told him. "I think they're leaving!"
"They're picking up speed." Jake confirmed. "They're definitely in a hurry!"
"Let them go." Troy instructed them. "They've got the message."
"Emma, Noah, prepare to dock." Gia told them. "It looks like the last of them have somewhere to be."
"So, you guys USED to be the Megaforce right?" Dax asked them. "So does that make this a SUPER Mega Win?"
Gia just sighed, face-palming as she heard this.
"You are such a dork." She reprimanded him. Troy just looked to him.
"OK, I know I said some dumb stuff before, but I'm NOT saying that." He answered. "It just sounds too stupid, even for me. Alright, let's get the ship somewhere safe. We have a lot to talk about."
Meanwhile, in orbit, on the bridge of The Armada's flagship, one of the robot crew members turned off the communications link. It turned towards the chamber.
"The attack fleet has been defeated." The robot informed him. "I am afraid they have been forced into a retreat Prince Vekar."
Prince Vekar, the ruler of The Armada, the Commander in Chief just looked to the robot, taking in this latest news.
He hadn't deigned to go to the Earth himself. That was far beneath his station. His wave of conquest had swept through several solar systems before now. The only real stumbling block in the expansion of his empire had been Earths surprising level of resistance.
He was tall, and had a very regal bearing as he surveyed the bridge of his ship like a throne room. He had smooth, pale features and his clothing was made of the finest materials available to his kind. He wore flowing white clothing, with an icy blue trim. The head dress and chest plate of silver were highly ornate, acting as much as a demonstration of his noble blood and position as ruler of The Armada as armour. He bore more than a small resemblance to Vrak, not surprising considering he was his brother. He let out a sigh at the news.
"These Rangers are an aggravation I could do without." He mused. "Argus, Lavira, our invasion went well. The humans barely put up a fight. I have complete control of the whole planet. All except for these children!"
"Yes my prince! The destruction of The Commodore was a huge surprise." Argus, The Prince's bodyguard answered. Argus was a hideous droid, covered in thick, silver armour and copper piping. He had been created by Vekar's lead scientist, Lavira as a bodyguard back in the beginning, when he knew his brother Vrak would have to leave his side and go with the Warstar to begin work, clearing the way for his invasion. "They are much stronger than we expected.
"I wish I could create a device that could locate your lost brother Vrak." Lavira told him sympathetically, coming to Vekar's side. She was an almost insect like creature, predominantly black with green stripes. She had a couple of cybernetic devices attached to her to assist in her role as his leading science and technical officer. She had a red visor over her eyes that allowed her to activate a number of different scans. She had followed him faithfully since he had brought her into his service many years earlier. He was aware of the fact that she was attracted to him. He took her hand, removing it from his clothing.
"Thank you." He responded, making his way past her to the control console. His brother, as part of their wider scheme, had gone with the Warstar many years before, swearing fealty to them and joining them on their campaign. Vekar had known that a war against the Warstar, while it was possible they could win, would ultimately be a costly affair that would have weakened his own empire. When Vrak had told him of his plan to convince the Warstar that they had surrendered by assassinating the King, only to sabotage them once they had done the heavy lifting claiming several solar systems for them to take for themselves, he had been only too quick to agree.
Vrak, more of a schemer than he was, had engineered a way for Vekar to increase the size of their empire, and rid themselves of a powerful enemy all at the same time. That he had, in doing so, also cleared the way for Vekar to inherit the whole empire much earlier than he had expected was an added bonus. Unfortunately, after he had engineered The Warstar's destruction, and betrayed them, that was when the plan fell out of control.
He had sent his envoy, The Messenger, once he had received word of Malkor's demise to assist his brother in clearing the way for his arrival. Studying his brother's reports of the Earth's capabilities, he had figured that humans didn't really possess the means to present a significant threat to his main forces, and had figured that The Messenger and Vrak would be able to accomplish the victory without him needing to expend any real resources on it. He knew full well about the presence of the last of the Eltarians, and of the powers he possessed, but they had even begun their plan to counter that. He was sure that by the time his ships arrived, he would be able to touch down with no resistance.
However, by the time he got there, all he got was a broken transmission from The Messenger, and no sign of Vrak. When he found the Rangers still there, he figured they had somehow managed to scrape together just enough power to surprise his underlings. He had sent The Commodore in his stead, hoping not to risk any more of his more valuable assets. However, even he had ended up being destroyed. The Ranger's message to him, their taunts still echoed in his mind.
"It is likely that he has fallen in battle." He declared to Lavira, arriving by his control console. "We must proceed, presuming that he is gone."
"The weapons and devices I have created will be more than enough to take over this little mudball." She assured him. "Not to mention Argus' warriors."
She looked to Argus, who just bowed in response, before approaching Prince Vekar directly, pulling in close.
"My Prince, if I may ask a question..."
"Of course you may." He assured her. She just steeled herself for the question.
"I presumed the only reason you hadn't simply blasted this planet into atoms by now was because you were going to search for your brother." She whispered. "If you believe he is gone, why have we continued to waste time on this worthless speck of dust?"
"Lavira, you must know by now that appearances are deceptive." He told her. "I mourn for my brother of course, but there is more to this planet than just my brother's final resting place."
He looked to Argus, who was standing by a control console.
"How soon can you prepare one of your warriors?" He asked.
"Sir, if I may...we might want to hold back on our next incursion." Argus suggested. "I am getting some very strange energy readings from the area."
"It's probably just the Rangers." Lavira told him.
"No, I have already accounted for them." Argus told her. "There are the Rangers, the power signature from the one using The Commodore's rebuilt ship has disappeared. He must have some form of cloaking device. But there is a third...one that is very powerful."
"Really?" Vekar asked. "What kind of energy?"
"Whatever it is, it is incredibly powerful." He told them. "And it is heading for the coast of Los Angeles."
"Interesting." Prince Vekar replied, cradling his chin with his hand. "Perhaps we should delay our debut appearance to the world. Perhaps we should take the time to see what this new arrival is."
Back in Los Angeles, the Rangers had found somewhere to conceal the Galleon, finally giving them a chance to decompress after their underwater adventure.
Troy sat at the head of the long table in the centre of the main room, his own Rangers down one side of the table, while the Overdrive Rangers and Andrew Hartford lined the other side. He looked somewhat troubled by the events of the day. This was not exactly the way he had expected the battle to go. As the others looked to him, he finally spoke after what seemed like hours.
"Today, we nearly suffered a huge loss." He told them. "We knew that someone else was looking for the keys, but now...now we've finally seen him."
"Troy, it really isn't that bad." Mack told him, placing the five Overdrive Keys onto the table. "We got the keys."
"We lucked out this time." Troy responded. "We almost lost the keys, and we almost got buried under the ocean into the bargain."
"But we didn't." Emma reminded him. "Look, we now have four sets of Ranger Keys!"
Emma took the other Ranger keys out of the chest, and lined them all up along the table. They had the Mighty Morphin' keys, the Turbo Keys, the Mystic Force Keys, and now, the Overdrive Keys. In addition, they had five of the 6th Ranger keys. The Green Mighty Morphin' Key, the Gold Zeo Key, the Quantum Ranger Key, the White Dino Thunder Key and the Mercury Ranger Key.
"See, we've got 25 Ranger keys already." Noah reminded him. "That's not a bad start."
"Plus, we now have one full team's keys." Gia pointed out, moving the Mercury Ranger key to join the other Overdrive Keys. Troy just sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, but this guy..."
"Hey, we'll run across him again." Jake said reassuringly. "He risked his ass to get these keys too. We've already taken five keys from him; we've taken more from him than he's taken from us."
Troy just pounded a fist into the table in frustration. While all of this was true, he couldn't help feeling like he was a step behind.
"Who IS this guy?" Troy called out. "He seems to know who we are, he was able to predict what we were going to do, and yet we don't know anything about him!"
"Well, that's not entirely true." Mack responded. "I did spend a while with the guy."
He looked around the room preparing to begin.
"His name's Lafitte." Mack informed them. "The big monkey thing that's with him is called Colo. He commandeered his ship..."
"It's the Commodore's old ship." Gia interjected. "It's got a new paint job and he seems to have tricked it out a little, but it's the Commodore's old ride alright."
"He seems to be able to use the Ranger keys because of some trumpet thing." Mack told them, grabbing a piece of paper. He started to draw out the device he had seen. "He puts the Ranger keys into the valves like this...and when he plays it, they turn into Ranger Puppets."
"So we now know how he uses the Ranger Keys." Noah commented. "Now the other question is why does he want them?"
"I imagine a Ranger Army would be a useful thing to have." Gia suggested. "I mean, we all know how powerful the Ranger suits make us, and there's been what? Over a hundred different Ranger suits? Could anyone stop an army like that?"
"It's a thought." Mack stated. "But I'm not sure that's it. I didn't get the feeling he had any intention of fighting anyone. He seems to be the kind of guy that prefers to take what he wants when no one's looking to fighting for it."
"So...why else would he want all those Ranger Keys?" Jake asked. "What use does a pirate have for an army if he isn't going to go to battle?"
"That's one more thing. I called him a pirate." Mack continued. "He told me he prefers the term Privateer."
"Privateer?" Troy asked him. "Isn't that basically the same thing?"
"Not exactly." Noah told him. "Privateers were irregular forces hired by the navy."
"Hired?" Jake asked him.
"They were paid by a government during times of war to attack opposing ships." Noah explained. "They were allowed to loot the ships, even commandeer them, as long as they only attacked enemy ships. Basically they were legally sanctioned pirates. They were given a licence to act by the government that hired them. They were paid by their own government, and they were allowed to keep whatever they plundered. It was quite a profitable career as long as their government was at war and maintained their licence. Many pirates started out as privateers."
"So he calls himself a privateer instead of a pirate." Jake said with a shrug. "It's still the same thing."
"Not quite." Gia chipped in. "If he is a privateer, then who hired him?"
The room fell silent; nobody had an answer for that.
"OK, so now we have one more problem." Noah declared. "The Armada know you violated your parole. They probably know you attacked them with our ship."
"Don't worry about us, we can look after ourselves." Will said confidently.
"Well, we can't risk going home." Ronny reminded them. "The Armada have probably already put a price on our heads."
"Briarwood." Troy announced. "Nick and the Mystic Force have the city of Briarwood hidden behind the mystical barrier. You'll be safe there."
"We don't need to run and hide!" Will snapped. "We're not helpless you know!"
"Will, we know you all want to help, we get it honestly." Emma told him. "But the one thing we know is if this is going to work, we all have a role to play. We're the only team that still has powers, so we're going to have to do most of the fighting..."
"But once we manage to get all the Ranger keys and Gosei manages to build his new morphing grid, we're going to need everyone to be ready to help." Noah explained. "You're not going to be much use to us in prison."
Will just sat back, throwing his hands up in frustration. Given his former occupation, it wasn't the first time he had found himself on the run, but he had to admit that what they had said made sense.
"Alright, I guess Briarwood wouldn't be the worst place to lie low for a while." He concluded.
"I wonder if Xander's still offering that ten percent discount he offered us?" Dax chipped in. Rose, Ronny and Will all just looked at him. "It was only a question!"
"Oh, there is one more thing." Rose told them. "While we were under attack, Tensou got knocked off his perch. He banged his head and started saying something...strange."
Troy and the other Corsair Rangers all looked at each other in panic.
"Please tell me you managed to record it." Troy rushed out. Rose just shook her head.
"I'm sorry." She told them.
"Man, I can't believe we missed a clue!" Gia snapped. "Now how are we...?"
"Wait, that poem is a clue?" Rose asked. They just nodded.
"Something's gone screwy with his tracking software." Noah explained. "When he hits his head, he comes out with a poem that contains a clue to the next set of Ranger Keys..."
"Well why didn't you say so?" Rose asked, taking the piece of paper Mack had drawn the trumpet on. She started to write.
"You remembered it?" Troy asked.
"Rose was a child prodigy. She had a doctorate before she was legally able to smoke." Andrew assured them. "She also has an eidetic memory."
"Here it is." Rose told them, giving Troy the paper. He looked at it and started to read.
"In the City of Angels you will find them,
In the shadow of a risen foe,
Find the saviours to be and the future will be saved,
Once the Lost Children are found and an old foe braved."
"Um...does that make sense to anyone?" Jake asked. "You know, other than the City of Angels part."
"It looks like we lucked out; the keys are here in Los Angeles." Gia stated.
"So we're looking for lost children in Los Angeles." Jake replied sarcastically. "Great, that's going to be easy. Does anyone know how many kids are on the streets here?"
"We should get on to searching for them as soon as we can. Lafitte might already be looking." He announced. "Andrew, can you get your team to Briarwood safely?"
Before he could answer though, the alarm sounded. Troy and the others all rushed to the control console, pulling up an image on the screen.
It showed the shore of Venice Beach, and several people running, screaming from the ocean. A huge cloud of steam was rising up from the ocean, moving towards them, like something of immense heat was heading their way.
"This isn't good." Andrew commented.
"What isn't good?" Troy asked him. As the steam started to dissipate, they saw a creature that looked like it was made of red rock, striding out of the ocean, the water around him evaporating and turning to steam as he headed onto the beach. It had massive horns on its head, and glowing yellow eyes. In its chest, they could see a gem the size of a cantaloupe imbedded in between what looked like large, jagged fangs. In its hands, it was carrying a pair of large, red swords.
"OK, why does that guy look familiar?" Jake asked.
"This is what I was afraid of." Andrew announced. "Those Lava Lizards that invaded Atlantis, they weren't after us; they were there for the Heart of Hades."
He pointed to the screen.
"By the looks of it, they found it." He continued. "They've brought back their master Moltor."
"Moltor?" Noah asked. "Wasn't he..."
"VERY bad news." Andrew interrupted him with a nod. "You have to stop him. If you don't, Los Angeles is finished!"